- Title: Trump picks Boeing over Lockheed for big fighter jet contract
- Date: 21st March 2025
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MARCH 21, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TD COWEN WASHINGTON RESEARCH GROUP - AEROSPACE & DEFENSE POLICY ANALYST, ROMAN SCHWEIZER, SAYING: "One of the things that we've seen over the last several years, certainly there's been COVID and COVID-related challenges, inflation, workforce issues, things like that, s
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Boeing F-47 Trump USAF
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: Defence,North America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00E078321032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. President Donald Trump awarded Boeing on Friday (March 21) the contract to build the U.S. Air Force's most sophisticated fighter jet yet, dubbed the F-47, handing the company a much-needed win.
The Next Generation Air Dominance program will replace Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor with a crewed aircraft built to enter combat alongside drones.
Trump, the 47th president, announced the new jet's name, the F-47.
"We've given an order for a lot. We can't tell you the price," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
"Our allies are calling constantly," Trump added, saying foreign sales could be an option. "They want to buy them also."
Shares of Boeing rose 5% after the U.S. company beat out Lockheed Martin for the deal. Lockheed's shares fell nearly 7%.
For Boeing, the win marks a reversal of fortune for a company that has struggled on both the commercial and defense sides of its business. It is a major boost for its St. Louis, Missouri, fighter jet production business.
For Lockheed the loss is another blow after being eliminated from the competition to build the Navy's next-generation carrier-based stealth fighter, and amid growing discontent from the Pentagon over continued delays in an upgrade to its F-35 fighter jet.
The engineering and manufacturing development contract is worth more than $20 billion. Boeing's win means it will make the jet fighter and receive orders worth hundreds of billions of dollars over the contract's multi-decade lifetime.
Reuters was first to report Boeing's victory.
The plane's design remains a closely held secret, but would likely include stealth, advanced sensors, and cutting-edge engines.
"Compared to the F-22, the F-47 will cost less and be more adaptable to future threats - and we will have more of the F-47s in our inventory," said Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General David Allvin.
"In preparation for this mission, we made the most significant investment in the history of our defense business, and we are ready to provide the most advanced and innovative NGAD aircraft needed to support the mission," said Steve Parker, interim president and chief executive officer for Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
NGAD was conceived as a "family of systems" centered around a sixth-generation fighter to counter adversaries such as China and Russia.
Allvin said the F-47 will have significantly longer range, more advanced stealth, and will be more easily supported than the F-22.
MAJOR WIN
Boeing's commercial operations have struggled as it attempts to get its best-selling 737 MAX jet production back up to full speed, while its defense operation has been weighed down by underperforming contracts for mid-air refueling tankers, drones and training jets.
"This is an opportunity to really reboot or revitalize those defense contracts, particularly a number of which have been losing money for several years," said Roman Schweizer, an analyst at TD Cowen.
Cost overruns at the KC-46 mid-air refueling tanker program have surpassed $7 billion in recent years, while another fixed-price contract to upgrade two Air Force One planes has created a $2 billion loss for the top-5 U.S. defense contractor.
In the unit that makes passenger jets, Boeing has faced intense scrutiny since a series of crises including a mid-air emergency in January 2024 involving a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 missing four key bolts. In January, Boeing reported an $11.8 billion annual loss - its largest since 2020 - due to problems at its major units, along with fallout from a strike that shuttered production of most of its jets.
Boeing has also ceded ground to rival Airbus in the delivery race and entered the crosshairs of regulators and customers following missteps. The Federal Aviation Administration in early 2024 imposed a monthly production cap.
Billionaire and presidential adviser Elon Musk has voiced skepticism about the effectiveness of crewed high-end fighters, saying cheaper drones were a better option.
"While disappointed with this outcome, we are confident we delivered a competitive solution," Lockheed said in a statement. "We will await further discussions with the U.S. Air Force."
While Lockheed could still protest the government's award to Boeing, the fact Trump announced the deal in a high-profile press conference could reduce the possibility of a public airing of arguments against the agreement from the Bethesda, Maryland-based defense firm.
(Production: Roselle Chen) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None